Book Review: The Art of Global Peacebuilding and Excellence in Education: Pathways to Hopeful, Transformational Practice by Angie Kotler and Jo Westbrook

Abstract

Sofía Antonia Gómez-Doyle reviews of The Art of Global Peacebuilding and Excellence in Education: Pathways to Hopeful, Transformational Practice by Angie Kotler and Jo Westbrook. Gómez-Doyle suggests that this critical scholarship examines the structural violence and systemic oppression that schooling maintains while inviting readers to redefine how they conceptualize excellence and peace education. The authors center teacher agency, community voice, and participatory action by focusing on case studies from their own experiences in Rwanda, Ethiopia, Liberia, and the UK. While Gómez-Doyle praises Kotler’s and Westbrook’s reflections and honesty, she invites readers to consider reimaging the loaded terms used in the education fields, such as excellence and peacebuilding, given their political and historical weight.